IMAN Chairman condemns Boko Haram attack

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THE GUARDIAN

Boko Haram militants have shot 18 women dead at a funeral in north-eastern Nigeria, rampaging through a village, setting houses on fire and shooting at random, according to witnesses and local government officials.

The attack took place on Thursday evening in the village of Kuda in Adamawa state. Some women were still missing, resident Moses Kwagh said.

A police source confirmed the attack, but said it was not yet clear how many people had been killed. The military did not respond to a request for comment.

Emmanuel Tsamdu, a state legislator, said: “I am yet to get the details on how it happened and the real number of people killed. I have sent hunters to go to the area and get me the details, because people are afraid to go to the village.”

Kuda is near the Sambisa forest, a vast colonial-era game reserve where Boko Haram militants hide in secluded camps to avoid the Nigerian military. They had previously attacked the village in February.

Under the command of Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, and aided by the country’s neighbours, the army has recaptured most of the territory Boko Haram had seized, but the group still regularly stages guerrilla attacks.

Kwagh said: “When we said that Boko Haram is still in this place, some people sit in Abuja and claim that there is no more Boko Haram. But see what has happened.”

Commenting on the news, IMAN Chairman Ribal Al-Assad said:

“This shocking massacre is only the latest in a long line of terrorist attacks against the peace-loving people of Nigeria.

“It is telling of the cowardice and heartlessness of Islamic extremists that they would target grieving women at a funeral. What kind of sick minds would ever think of such a thing?

“But groups like Boko Haram are simply a symptom, and not the cause of this disease. The real cause of the scourge of terrorism is the poisonous and perverted ideology that incites and encourages it.

“Islamic extremists are hell-bent on causing death and destruction and we need to wake up to this fact. I call on the international community to stand in solidarity with the countless victims of terrorist violence and pledge to provide a more robust response to Islamic extremism.

“This means we must commit to tackling the problem at its roots, and holding to account all those who fund, incite, harbour or otherwise support terrorism. And if this means we must sanction and bring to justice those states and individuals who we have called our friends and allies, then this is what we must do.”